Mas Seafood has been distributing seafood to area restaurants and grocery stores since 2006. Now they are looking to make a splash in the retail market.
On Thursday, Mas Seafood will open its first retail location at 809 Pendleton St. for preorder sales of seafood like salmon, mahi mahi, and cod.
The business originally started by long time seafood supplier Manuel Ribadulla and his son, Michael Ribadulla. The business is now led by Michael and his wife Katy Ribadulla. They take great pride in having an expansive network of suppliers allowing them to offer a wide range of fresh and frozen, domestic and international seafood.
Katy and Michael Ribadulla and their son outside their store.
From the previous North Henry Street location, they supplied restaurants in Alexandria and Arlington, including Daniel O’Connell’s Pub, Fontaine Caffe & Creperie, Alexandria Pasty Shop and Belle Haven Pizzeria.
While they had always been interested in doing retail sales, it wasn’t until the COVID-19 pandemic upended their market that they were able to make the shift — almost by accident.
“Our business was hurting really badly,” Katy said. “We were concerned about the fresh product in out cooler, and we didn’t want it to go to waste.”
So, Katy made a post on Facebook in late March, letting the community know what they had in their cooler to sell. The community responded, and they were able to sell everything in their cooler. After that, they had no plan to continue selling to the public.
“I started getting text messages: ‘Hey, when are you doing that again?’ ‘Hey, I need more fish.’ ‘When can I get more fish?’” Katy said.
They decided to sell their products one more time, but the support kept pouring in. By Mother’s Day, they were facing a lot demand. Katy created Mas Seafood’s Facebook page and began advertising, and even still their business was shared through word-of-mouth much faster than anticipated.
“I like to say my husband and I were chasing behind it, as it took on a life of its own,” Katy said. As it grew and their ideas for continuing their retail business evolved, they realized they would need a new space.
In September the started planing of their retail space at 809 Pendleton St., right next to the new Chewish Deli storefront. Located in a residential area, they knew they would have to plan well to make sure the area did not stink of fish.
Mas Seafood has joined with Compost Cab to dispose of fish waste. The compost process is more detailed than just throwing away fish, so it will help with the smell.
In a month and a half they were able to open for online order pick-up at the new location. While that is all that they are able to do right now, they plan on creating an all-inclusive store with all the ingredients you will need to prepare a seafood meal.
“We like dealing with customers and helping them make a decision on what they will have for dinner,” Katy said.
Other future plans include a mystery “tackle box,” where for a flat rate customer can get pre-selected fish and seafood.
Katy doesn’t yet have a timeline of the development of both the tackle box and traditional store. They are focusing on not spreading themselves too thin to provide the best experience for their customers.
Mas Seafood will be open this week Thursday – Saturday. The menu for this week can be viewed on their Facebook page and orders can be placed by texting 571-247-1509.
